The widespread availability of a multitude of "drive-thru" restaurants has encouraged the automobile driver to consume foods and beverages in the driver's automobile, usually from behind the steering wheel. That phenomenon did not go unnoticed by some inventors who sought to bring greater convenience to such drivers by devising means to allow the driver to sit behind the steering wheel and leisurely partake of food and beverage without risk of spilling food or drink on one's clothing From the invention of the predecessor "drive-in" restaurant, prior inventors sought to present means by which the drive-in service could allow the automobile driver self-assured dining while seated in the driver's seat, as evidenced by the steering wheel supported serving trays presented in U.S. Pat. No. 2,211,962, granted Aug. 20, 1940 to Morris and U.S. Pat. No. 2,299,025, granted Oct. 13, 1942 to McGinley. Of more recent vintage, a relatively planar shaped food tray adapted to temporarily mount to the automobile steering wheel is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,867, granted Feb. 21, 1989 to McAllister and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,035, granted Apr. 10, 1990 to Clark, et. al, with the former being a one piece structure.
Due to their construction the McAllister and Clark food trays would appear to offer an inexpensive, easily stowable and easily manufacturable utensil that seems difficult to match overall in ease of manufacture and application. However, the applicant has not seen those trays on the market. One may speculate as to the reason: For one, the many different models of automobiles, more likely than not, have different diameter steering wheels. Additionally, steering wheels in different auto models may be mounted at slightly different angles relative to the horizontal. Thus, some difficulty may be expected in providing a tray of the foregoing type in a standard size and design useful on all automobiles avoids any vertical tray tilt, when placed in use, as would encourage spillage. Without universal application, the cost advantage of a single piece structure is lost. Further, the mounting of the foregoing tray apparatus is of a cantilever type support. That support arrangement places great stress at the support on the tray as could make the respective trays impractical in an economic sense.
Though more complex in structure than the foregoing, the tray presented in Vice, U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,606, granted Feb. 22, 1972, contains two parts, a tray portion and a back portion, pivotally connected together and, hence, foldable, with the back portion being attached to the steering wheel by means of a connecting yoke located on the back portion's back side. When removed from the steering wheel the assembly may be folded flat and stowed out of the way under the automobile seat. As those skilled in the art appreciate from inspection of the Vice patent, the structure illustrated in Vice is somewhat rugged in construction. It allows for tray angle adjustment by means of a spring loaded rachet arrangement formed in the pivot joint. As one appreciates, while the Vice structure appears worthwhile, due to the mechanisms employed it is not the low cost type of article as would be given away by the restaurant proprietor to its customers as a premium, free of charge or at a very low price. That tray also does not appear on the marketplace to the present inventor's knowledge.
Though not designed for mounting on the automobile steering wheel, a low cost automobile tray is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,190, granted June 18, 1974 to Evangelista, entitled "Collapsible Tray with Adaptable Arrangement". Evangelista presents a two-part foldable tray structure in which the tray portion may be oriented at a 90 degree angle relative to the back portion by means of a series of strings threaded through openings to effectively suspend the tray portion from the back, retaining the tray at a ninety degree angle with respect to the back. Evangelista avoids the problem with variation in steering wheel tilt angles by instead using the automobile door as a support By hanging the back portion on a hook on the automobile door, much like hanging a picture frame, the steering wheel tilt angle is avoided as a design consideration Though constructed of simple component elements, the threading of string in a serpentine like arrangement through the many holes, six in each of the tray and back portions in the specific example given in Evangelista, and adjusting their lengths obviously involves considerable time and labor, as would add to the cost of manufacture. Though exemplary in simplicity, the Evangelista design does not serve the present needs and does not appear particularly well suited to low cost mass production.
An object of the present invention is to provide a stowable foldable steering wheel tray of novel structure that may be easily adjusted to permit use in various models of automobiles and is adapted to mass production manufacture.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a low cost steering wheel mounted food tray constructed from readily available materials that is suitable for use by a restaurant as a premium promotional item.
An ancillary object of the invention is to provide a tray that not only supports edibles but also permits use as a resting reading material to permit the driver to read while dining.